Life with Grandfather

Title : Life with Grandfather

Written and illustrated by Shankar

Publisher : CBT (Children's Book Trust )

Ages : 5+

While basking in the warm and fuzzy feeling of grandparental love as exuded by Sandhya's book review, I thought it would be perfect to write the review of another book of this kind that we are reading now. "Life with Grandfather" was picked by me from an obscure corner of a library that I have access to. The highlight and charm of this book is it's simplicity.

In this book, a little boy narrates his life experiences as he grows in his grandparents' house. He is the darling of the house, pampered by everyone. Well, the grandfather makes sure that he appears stern and strict with the grandson, but nevertheless his love and affection for the child, shows in every little action of his. The mischief of the boy, his grandfather's typical stern reactions, their companionship, the experiences in the fields, temple, school transport us to a world quite similar to Swami's !

The text is very simple and perfect for early chapter readers. The pencil sketches have a warmth, beauty and simplicity that definitely touches us. I noticed that this book was first printed in 1965. It is a pity that such wonderful books are not to be seen so easily in any of the book stores. But the good thing I noticed is that it is available on Flipkart ! My 4 year old daughter was smiling at the funny antics of the boy as I read to her. He is a character that all the kids would find quite endearing. I am sure all of us would be reminded of our own grandfathers as we read about this wonderful but strict grandpa :-)

Aajoba-my grandfather

Imagine that a child is given the activity of writing in a scrapbook all that (s)he knows about a favourite relative, with her special memories and feelings about that relative. Imagine that the child is provided with lots of colouring and writing material, and all the photographs that can be found about the person in question. And there is no rush to finish the project, time enough for the child to reflect and marshall all thoughts and feelings.

What would be the result? A collage-y book like Aajoba-my grandfather.

Pic courtesy tulikabooks.com

Written and illustrated by Taruja Parande.
Published by Tulika books.
Ages 5+

The book begins with who the writer's grandfather was. After enumerating all that he wasn't, she goes on to say that "He was just very special because he was mine."

And then she goes on to write about all the little, special, memorable things that they went on to do together. Putting a snack together, pottering about in the garden, giving the cat a bath, feeding pigeons and then listening to the sound of their wings as they suddenly flew overhead. The story of her Aajoba and Aaji when they got married, and the stories he would tell at bedtime, the same story over and over again.

The book has plenty of personal photographs, accounts of Aajoba's hobbies, pictures of cards written to the writer in his handwriting, pictures of the bags he made from re-cycled clothes and so much more that gives us a comprehensive picture of the person he was in Taruja's memories.

All the more wonderful from a child's point-of-view, as these are simple, everyday pleasures that mean more to a child than all the big things in the world, the little things that go into weaving a tapestry of memories. A tapestry that is so strong that it can often define who you become, and can be a virtual security blanket for one in the big, bad world.

It is a wonderful book, one that we have loved reading together at home. It has revived many memories of my grandparents, and has led to A seeing her own grandparents in a totally different light. In fact, this is one activity that we have planned for the upcoming vacations- A trip to both sets of her grandparents is on the cards, and we will have a lovely time going through old photographs, and maybe come up with a scrapbook of our own!

Tulika books completed 15 years of publishing wonderful books for children of all ages on 15th February 2011. Here's wishing them many more years of such lovely books for us to enjoy in the future. 

Crossposted  here.

Living Next Door to Alice

Title : Living Next Door to Alise

Author : Anita Nair

Publisher : Puffin India

Siddharth is a nine-year old boy who prefers reading a book in his room to running around in the park or climbing trees - the activities which his parents consider are done by normal boys of his age and not being afraid of red ants is definitely one of them.

One day after having a long argument with Siddharth, the 'parental unit'(Siddharth's ingenious way of referring his parents to) sent him out in the garden in order to make him behave like a regular boy. While he was sitting at the far edge of the garden under a tree wondering why his parents want him to undo the evolution human beings have achieved in descending down from climbing the trees to the ground, he heard somebody speak to him in a soft voice. When he looked around, he was shocked to see a baby elephant talking to him. She introduced herself as Aishwarya but made it very clear that she likes to be called Alise instead. Siddharth and Alise found a friend in each other. And it turned out that Alise is extremely intelligent, well-read and has excellent vocabulary.

Together the two friends undertook many adventures. Once Alise wanted to go to school wearing the same patterned cloth as was Siddharth's school uniform and requested Siddharth to tie one bow around her bristles - 'Make a nice big bow. I am rather particular about bows'. After creating a lot of commotion in the school in a single day, Alise decided that school was a waste of time and that she was better off teaching herself from her books. On another occasion Siddharth wanted to take Alise along with him to a party in the neighbourhood and Alise got tempted by all the mountains of ladoos and jangeries, vadas and idlis. And in no time these same beautiful mountains vanished and in Alise's words, she felt 'replete'. But Alise is not just a fun loving elephant, she is brave and very compassionate too. The two friends resolve to work together against the Bearded Bandit who was terrorizing the elephants in the vicinity and how they accomplish their objective is an interesting read.

We enjoyed reading this book thoroughly and many times were laughing out loud especially where Alise displays her adroitness at picking and using new words and her suggestions to Siddharth such as 'you should add this word to your vocabulary, you know…' Anita Nair is definitely among those authors who excel in expressing the inner feelings and emotions of a person beautifully. She has clearly written a fun book full of adventures and thrills and has not tried to unnecessarily load it with education part anywhere. The conversations between Siddharth and his parents look very genuine and candid with some shades of irreverence for the parents and his disagreeing inner voice is also divulged in the narrative.

Darby



Pic courtesy Flipkart

DARBY
Written by Jonathon Scott Fuqua
Published by Candlewick Press
Ages 9-12 yrs

Darby Carmichael is a white, 9 yr old girl living in Bennettsville, Marlboro county, South Carolina, in the racially intolerant early 1920s. She has two "best friends", Beth at the all-white school, and Evette Robinson, the girl who stays on the farm next door, the daughter of a black sharecropper. Darby looks forward to coming home from school everyday, so that she can just run off to play with Evette. Given a choice, of course, Darby would choose Evette over all her other friends, but even at 9, she knows that it cannot be done.

Darby's dream is to be a newpaper journalist, and she attempts to write for the local daily, helped to a large extent by Evette with whom she discusses her ideas, and who edits her work. This is accepted by Mr Salter, the editor of the Bennettsville Times, who is a friend of her father's. Of course, he knows all about Evette's role in this, but does not say anything, as he, along with Darby's father, is anti racial sentiment.

Darby gets better and better in her writing (with Evette's help of course), and soon has an article appearing in the daily every week, her family and friends making much of it! So when she witnesses the beating up of Evette's brother for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, by Turpin Dunn, a white man who she knows her father despises for his ill-manners and bad-tempered behaviour, and who her father knows is a member of the dreaded Klu Klux Klan, she proceeds to write about it. Fully knowing the furore this would cause, her father permits the daily to publish it.

What happens next? How is the following drama played out? Does right prevail in the end?

A wonderful book about the battle of right against wrong, about an innate sense of equality present in a child's mind, in a first person version of a 9 yr old on the "priviledged" side of racial segregation. A coming of age book, a journey from wide-eyed innocence to the slow dawning of a knowledge of reality, and the courage to stand up for what one thinks is right.

A good book to follow up this wonderful book reviewed by Meera on ST. A book in honour of Black History Month.

Crossposted here.




Kakababu Mysteries

Here is another interesting guest post by Anu Kumar. This time she introduces us to wonderful world of children's mystery books from Bengal. Many thanks to Anu for another interesting review.

The Dreadful Beauty (translated by Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee)

The King of the Verdant Island (translated by Tridiv Chowdhury)

Published by PonyTale Books

Written originally by Sunil Gangopadhyay (in Bengali). Sunil Gangopadhyay is the current president of Sahitya Akademi.

Several novels for young adults by the renowned Bengali writer, Sunil Gangopadhyay, feature Kakababu, who solves mysteries on the basis of his immense knowledge, and his skill at several things. Kakababu was once in the archaeological survey of India, and so he has travelled to various parts of India, as well as outside. It is when he is in Afghanistan that he loses one of his legs, but this is no impediment to his detecting skills, assisted as he is by his able young nephew, Santu.

Kakababu first appears in Sunil Gangopadhyay’s the Dreadful Beauty. This and another book, the King of the Verdant Island, have recently appeared in an English translations published by the Kolkata based Ponytale Books. Ponytale already made a mark by its translations of Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s books for children.

Kakababu first appeared in Bengali fiction first in the early 1970s, when Nirendranath Chakraborty who was at the time editor of Anandmela, a Bengali children's monthly, asked Gangopadhyay to write something for children for their annual Puja number. Gangopadhyay crafted a character called Kakababu — a super-knowledgeable sleuth. Kakababu’s first novel Bhoyonkor Sundor appeared in 1974 and thereafter more followed.

The Dreadful beauty unfolds in Kashmir, and Santu is accompanying Kakababu on his first adventure with him. As will be usual in the later adventures too, Kakababu keeps his plans secret, and Santu has no idea why they are here, or what they are looking for. The local businessman cum know-all Sucha Singh, who professes to be a 1947 war hero, however, thinks he knows why Kakababu is here, scouting around Pahalgam and Sonmarg. Sucha Singh does not give up easily, and seems to turn up everywhere, nosing into everything that Kakababu and Santu are up to.

The story begins slowly, but soon picks up once Kakababu decides to move into a remote village, but here too, Santu notices nothing happening. One night though, Santu finds sleep evasive, because of the constant sound of a horse riding nearby. It scares him and later he and Kakababu learn the story of Hako, a ghost rider who belongs to times past, who is killed by highway robbers and so he continues to haunt these areas. But Kakababu for the first time

perks up hearing this story. The legend of Hako will lead them finally to the adventure they are here for – a historical mystery that has never been solved, till Santu uncovers it accidentally when he falls into a ditch. This leads to a cave inhabited by a terrifying looking python, and this is where they come across a wooden box, which when opened unveils the secret that has eluded historians for centuries.

Sucha Singh however refuses to believe that Kakababu could have found anything but gold. So he kidnaps Kakababu, ransacks their tent and Santu has a harrowing time finding his way back to Kakababu.

The story ends on a piquant note, which is perhaps an important ‘lesson’ that this book and the other one, ‘The King of the Verdant Island’ has to give - of the two faces that success can sometimes have, and how dashed hopes do not necessarily mean failure but could always lead on to other things.

The King of the Verdant Island actually rules over a remote island, inhabited only by adivasis (the unique tribe of the Jarawas), where strange happenings occur. But this story begins actually in not too far away Calcutta when an attempt is made to steal passports belonging to Kakababu and Santu.

Santu is accompanying his uncle Kakababu on a trip the latter keeps secret until they are finally arrive in Port Blair. The adventure begins soon after. They notice suspicious looking foreigners loitering around. These same people move around with seeming ease in a motorboat, which need special permits to operate in the Andamans. When Kakababu instantly gives chase, Santa and he soon find themselves in an island which is a special reserve for the Jarawas. They are the original inhabitants of these islands, whose way of live is locked in ancient methods. Apparently, they do not even know the use of fire. But it is obvious that they do possess something mysterious, which has brought the “foreigners” into their midst.

Santu and Kakababu find out too late, when there is immediate danger to their lives.

The action is fast-paced, Santu who comes across as timid and nervous, shows real pluck towards the end, while the character of Gunada Talukdar adds some complexity to the story. He is a revolutionary who was once incarcerated in the Cellular jail, a jail built by the British in the 1860s to house revolutionaries. As Gunada staged his own escape in pre independence times he was unfortunate enough to be caught in an accident and that is how he found himself in the island of the Jarawas. There he lives, caught in a time-warp till Kakababu and Santu find him. In fact, he still carries his manacles with him, on that occasion. The two worlds are juxtaposed – the greedy foreigners in search of the Jarawas secret, and the tribals lost in a time of their own making.

Kakababu is a likeable sleuth, with his easily recognizable quirks, the way he moves with agility despite his disability, his refusal to accept any help. His penchant for keeping secrets, and his vast storehouse of knowledge, makes Kakababu in a sense similar to his contemporaries, Satyajit Ray’s Feluda or Sarodindo Bandyopadhyay’ s Byomkesh Bakshi. He is however older than either of these and manages to save himself by quick thinking and sheer grit.

While this translation rings true to the original, one wonders though if it could have done with some contemporary updating. In a sense, it jars that the Jarawas are seen as innocent, simple tribals and do not seem to have a will of their own. They are led totally by Gunada Talukdar. Also sometimes the men, who steal into the island, are referred varyingly as foreigners or whites. This however does not take away anything from reading this novella – full of distinct characters, its action, and its description of life in a little known place – the Andaman Islands.

A Day With No Crayons

A Day With No Crayons
by Elizabeth Rusch
illustrated by Chad Cameron

Ages 4-8

Publisher: Rising Moon

Liza loved her crayons.
She treasured turquoise,
adored apricot, and
flipped over fuchsia.

After pages and pages of colorful images, Liza ran out of paper and discovered one blank wall right in her room and promptly got to work. Of course, Mother took the crayons away with a strict, "No more crayons for you today." What is Liza to do?

As her day progresses, with her stomping and sulking, she sees color everywhere - indoors and outdoors! She drags a muddy stick across the park sketching a chocolate-brown tree trunk and branches, scrapes an old red brick along the sidewalk drawing a desert, some camels and a whole caravan...

As her color-filled day comes to a close, she finds herself back home where her mother offers her back her crayons if she promises not to color on the walls. And, guess what Liza says? "I think I can go one more day with no crayons".

This is one of the few picture books that resonated with Ana since our entry into the world of chapter books. Chad Cameron's illustrations are amazing, with some subtle references to famous artists. The page with the caravan of camels was her favorite. And mine. A single continuous line makes up each of the camels and Ana and I couldn't wait to try it out ourselves.

While simple in concept, the book shows that creativity need not be limited by the tools or the medium.

[image source: Elizabeth Rusch website]

An Arty Adventure

An Arty Adventure: A Young Girl’s Journey Toward Abstraction

Author and Illustrator: Sherry Linger Kaier

Publisher: The Artists’ Orchard

Ages : 9 +

Give a toddler a crayon and watch how instinctively she knows what to draw. Lines and squiggles appear effortlessly; the crayon becomes a toy, a pet, a snack even. Young children don’t think about what to draw, or how to… they just draw. Now offer the same crayon to a teenager or adult and, chances are, all you will get is self conscious laughter, confusion and an apologetic ‘I can’t draw’. And yet, we all CAN draw, and all of us DID draw quite unselfconsciously for the first few years of our lives. So what changed?

In her famous pictorial essay “Two Questions”, noted graphic novelist, writer and teacher Lynda Barry, talks about the reasons children stifle their creative instincts – shame, fear, peer pressure – by turning away from drawing, or learning how to draw the ‘right’ way. Held hostage by her own doubts about the worth of her drawings, Lynda discovers she has lost the fun of drawing, even as she churns out stuff that is ‘good’ …until one day she connects again with the sheer delight of it all. “All the kids who quit drawing”, she says at the end of her pictorial essay, “come back!”

I’ve been teaching myself to draw for a while now, and trying to pass on the excitement , the sense of adventure (and, occasionally, the frustration) that is art, to my daughter. We draw – or find pictures - everywhere – out in the park, in our food, on the walls, even in the shower with great clouds of soap lather. Yet, despite our many fun sessions, I still find the Imp prone to occasional bouts of the “I-can’t-draw” blues and ‘the-colours-aren’t-behaving-themselves’ mopes. So reading ‘An Arty Adventure’ together has been useful in explaining to her not just that art is its own adventure, but also that her frustrations with her supposed inabilities pretty much par for the course.

With simple text and charming illustrations that innovatively reinterpret some of the world’s greatest artists, author and illustrator Sherry Linger Kaier demystifies abstract art for her young readers . Her protagonist , Ava Noodlenicker faces a problem familiar to anyone – and I don’t mean just children - who has felt at once enthralled and intimidated by the great masters . She attempts to mimic their styles as a way to improve her own art, but her frustration when she fails begins to affect her love for the craft. Worse, her teacher expects her to create a drawing in her own unique style. How, Ava wonders, can she ever find her own style , when she can’t even copy the masters?

But help is at hand, for a dream soon leads her on a journey into a world where art grows on trees, and some of the most significant schools of thought in modern art. Through pictures, verse and prose, she explores the concepts that inspired some of the world’s most famous artists, from the Impressionists to the Abstract Expressionists. By the end of this colourful journey, Ava overcomes her fears regarding art. But more importantly, she realizes the need to experiment and find her original style. “To yourself you must be true”, Kaier gently points out. “Pursue the dreams that live in you.” And sure enough, Ava does find her dreams and her style , with a picture for her class assignment that is both unique and inspired.

Author and illustrator Kaier does a commendable job here – she takes a complex subject and breaks it down for readers of all ages. She uses a simple but remarkably innovative technique to demonstrate the basic principles of each style ; the same image – a girl with a bunch of sunflowers, standing before a rhododendron bush- is drawn in each of the styles discussed. So the Impressionist version focuses on the play of light on the objects in the frame; the Post Impressionist features a swirling Van Gogh sky; and the Surrealist version is a cheerful swirl of eyes and jaunty surfing sunflowers that even Dali would approve of. Kaier doffs her hat at Seurat , Gaugin and even Picasso, with the cheeky Cubist study that graces the cover of this book. In addition, simple verses highlight the salient features of each style – the Fauvists’ use of patterns and startlingly vivid colours, for instance, (‘The Fauves’ colors, so bright and unreal, give us patterns with striking appeal.”) or the Impressionist preoccupation with light ( “Observing shades from dawn ‘til night, Impressionists paint spots of light.")

Arty Adventure is a good teaching aid , both as a primer on art and its reminder that art is about self expression and experimentation , not predefined rules. The Imp and I read it alongside a large book full of reproductions of famous paintings, and had a lot of fun trying to identify the various styles we encountered in it. I look forward to sequels that cover other schools of thought, from across the world.

Thanks to Sherry Linger Kaier for sending me a copy of the book to review.

The Burmese Box and Other Stories

Anu Kumar has another interesting guest post on a Bengali book translated into English. Do read on. I am extremely glad that she takes time to write and introduce us to some great children's books from Indian languages. Thank you, Anu Kumar.

The Burmese Box and Other Stories

By Lila Majumdar

Translated by Srilata Banerjee

With an introduction by Subhadra Sengupta

Puffin Books, 2010

Cover Page Illustration by Sayantan Halder

When you step into Lila Majumdar’s world, you encounter a world of fabulous treasure, secret tunnels and routes, loving grandmas or elderly ladies, and usually a couple of skinny men who appear extremely suspicious. But then this world turns out to be full of surprises.

The treasure goes missing, grandmas can be suspects too, and eleven year boys can stand accused of murder.

Lila Majumdar much loved writer for children’s books is now finally available in English. After the Yellow Bird (which Anu Kumar provided a guest post some time back - please check the link), two of her novellas have now appeared, translated this time by her granddaughter, Srilata Banerjee. In her translator’s note, she states that it more a transcription than a translation and all the same, it brings to life the world Lila Majumdar created.

Having begun writing for children, she well knew and understood them. So in her stories, as she slowly builds up suspense, there are also elements of familiarity, so that a child is not thrust straightaway into the unknown.

The narrator in both these stories is a small boy who knows the odds in living in a world run and managed by adults. And adults came in various shapes and sizes, and are so hard to understand.

In Goopy’s Secret Diary, he becomes an unwitting part of an adventure when he accompanies Shyamadas kaka, Biranchidi, Thandidi on a strange secret trip. They don’t tell him where they are off to, but their behavior is very suspicious. Finally they admit they have to run because the ‘huliya’, a species of ghosts, is after them.

But they run into crowds, a slick skinny young man, as it turns out, slips a pearl necklace inside Shyamadas kaka’s kurta, and then in the middle of the night, finding themselves in a dark forest, they take shelter in a strange mansion.

There is an old lady who by magic produces a wonderful meal, and later other intriguing characters appear - a bearded man who is inordinately fond of his cow and her calf, a thin skinny man, and the slick, skinny looking youth reappears, who searches their room when he thinks they are asleep..

A second necklace appears in Shyamadas Kaka’s pocket, even as the police turn up the next day, and launch a search for the desperate criminals. But apart from Goopy, they have all disappeared.

As he tries to deflect accusations of having himself spirited them away or even killed them, Goopy falls through the bathroom and enters an altogether different world, a tunnel leads him into a strange room, that is peopled by a terrible looking, very carnivorous cow. In this room, where he thinks he is all alone and very hungry, suddenly people begin to appear, in very many ways. A loft opens up and someone comes falling down, someone else angrily knocks on the door demanding to be let in, and then of course, there are those who are found in the ancient wooden cupboards in the room.

And there Goopy slowly uncovers the mystery of the pearl necklace but there is one too many false necklaces, creating for great merriment in the end. The real reason why Goopy three eccentric relatives were on the run also comes to light. Thandidi is upset because her brother has been gifting away precious family heirlooms to his ‘guru’; Biranchi da just doesn’t want to get married, despite a girl being chosen by his father and Shyamadas kaka because he had an argument that generated into fisticuffs, with someone over who was the better footballer.

Jewels, a secret room with a largely unnoticed entrance, suspicious relatives also appear in the shorter novella , The Burmese Box. The story intersperses the past with the present, Panchu Mama is returning home to look for Podi Pishi’s Burmese Box. The story moves to the past and describes the scary journey Podi Pishi once made through a dense and dark jungle to meet her younger brother. He is a suspicious character, in league with bandits and dacoits but Podi pishi is more than a match for all of them. She is built on very strong lines and the force of her personality is overbearing. She can shout down any opponent. And any command will have all her younger relatives rush to do her bidding.

The Burmese box is one that is filled with precious jewels of every kind that is somehow misplaced soon after Podi pishi returns home and she simply cannot remember what could have happened to it or who she could have given it to. The mystery of the missing Burmese Box is something that has haunted the family long after Podi Pishi herself has passed away.

And so it is, years later that the young narrator finds himself returning to meet his ‘didima’ with his uncle Panchu mama, who appears a lackadaisical ne-er do well but is determined to find the box and is no end suspicious of his family.

On the way, there appears a skinny over-earnest guy who shows a great interest in the story of the Burmese Box.

They soon reach a lonely mansion deep in the forest, which then suddenly erupts with relatives. Didima, shejo dadamoshai, and sundry other aunts and uncles, and everyone it seems is looking for the Burmese Box. It is Didima, who is Panchu mama’s suspect number 1, who tells Goopy the story of Podi Pishi how even as she lay dying, finally discovered what had happened to the Burmese Box. There are other stories besides the one Didima tells of Podi pishi’s good for nothing yet warm-hearted son, Goja, who discovers riches overnight and showers everyone with gifts. There is also the story of how a staircase built because a younger uncle of the family wanted to bring home an English wife, ‘a mem’, was later dismantled. And therein lies the secret of the Burmese Box.

The two novellas make for breathtaking reading. Nowhere, from one page to another, is there any let-up in the suspense. And intermeshed in all this, are the young narrator’s helpless and still wry observations about adults and what strange creatures they are. Mansions, forests, eccentric relatives, ghosts or huliyas, boxes and strange rooms filled with jewels – Lila Majumdar built an entire whole world for children and made it believable, and hard to get out of. It’s a book that you will read with pleasure and feel sorry once it’s over.

The Wolves in the Walls

Pic courtesy amazon.co.uk 

The Wolves in the Walls
Written by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Dave McKean
Published by Bloomsbury

Lucy hears noises in her room at night. She knows what they are. There are wolves in the wall!

"Rats!" says her mother, unconcerned, busy with housework.

"Bats!" says her brother, busy with his school work.

Her father, a tuba player, doesn't even think it worthwhile to give her an explanation.

All of them tell her- "If the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over." 

And then, the scraping and scratching noises grow louder and louder, until one night, the wolves DO come out of the walls.

So is it over? Not by a long shot! It is just the beginning. The beginning of courage in Lucy, who, after scampering outside with her family, away from the wolves, realises that her pink pig-puppet has been left behind. And he has to be rescued. Inspite of her fear of the wolves. To her, it is her baby. Not "just a puppet!" as her father puts it.

So what happens next? Does Lucy manage to get into the house and rescue her pink pig-puppet from the clutches of the wolves? And do they manage to drive the wolves out, after all?

A and I read this nail-biting, on-the-edge-of-our-seats story recently, and A loved it. As she rightly put it- "I'm glad I'm not so little anymore, or I would have been really frightened."  For the book is the stuff of nightmares. So although it is a picture book that can be read aloud to younger children, maybe 5+, I would still put the appropriate age at 8+.

We visited Neil Gaiman, the writer in this post during CROCUS 2010. All the books that I have read by him were spooky to an extent I was not comfortable with introducing to A, knowing her. So when I read through this book, it came to me that here was the perfect book with which to introduce this wonderful writer to her.

And the illustrations! Done in a combination of pen-and-ink sketches, watercolours and actual photographs, Dave McKean has brought the 'spooky' factor alive for us. It has that unmistakeable quality of graphic novels, where sometimes pictures speak more than words. Full page, in dark shades, alternating between hazy and stark, with the text written at strategic points. Dark but funny, realistic yet enchantingly fairy-tale like. A perfect foil for Gaiman's story-telling.

Two pictures struck us as extraordinary- the page on which the wolves come out of the walls- she let out a small scream, the dynamic energy of the wolves running out, with that 'almost heard in your head' baying that can be easily imagined. Another is the page on which the family is huddled outside around a fire- the fire has a very realistic glow in the overlapping strokes of red, yellow and orange that the artist has used. One could almost feel the heat.

A great book for addressing those things that go 'bump' in the night.

Crossposted here.

Interview with ArtIndea- Part 2

Continued from Part 1 of the Interview....

What is The ArtIndea Project all about?
ArtIndea Project is an organization that works with and through the Indian arts, both visual and performing. We are inspired by the challenges that are created at the intersection of arts, media and education as well as the intricate layers that work between self-identity, nationality and globalization. We create media, educational programs and art, in order to explore Indian arts and expand awareness about them to common public; both children and adults. We also document existing art forms and practices across India as part of our educational media initiative.


Are there others in this space? In India? Abroad?
There are different organizations that are working towards promoting art and specifically Indian art among children as well as adults. The Madras Craft Foundation, The National Folklore support Centre, India Foundation for the Arts, Tarabooks, Kreedatoys, as well as the Crafts council of India have different programs/ products that reach out to children. However the work is varied and different and each organization has a different approach.

What is your vision for ArtIndea?
We are committed to celebrating life through art. We believe that through art, we can reach ourselves and discover pride, responsibility and identity in the process. We envision celebrating beauty and honesty through the Indian arts.
Our mission is to
· To expand awareness, deepen understanding and contribute to new research in the field of Indian arts in both academic and non-academic ways.
· To work with folk, tribal and contemporary artists to co-create new materials.
· To raise critical questions about creativity in the modern global space and role of nationality in the creation of art.
· To think, feel, hear, listen, see and celebrate yourself and things around you.

It is focused on both children and adults. We have different programs/ products that target different age-groups.

What is your opinion of art museums in India? Especially towards children?
Museums can be a great resource for learning and wonderful activity centres. However, museums in India are yet to tap this tremendous resource. While there are traditional educational trips that students take to the museum, the joy of discovering art, the exploration of both modern and ancient arts, the excitement of traveling through historical periods, while using history as a lens to understand and view the present are yet to be fully exploited.

Museums could become great bridges by taking a more active role in Children’s education and having special programs that engage children as well as organizing information and spaces in such a way that it is more engaging and entertaining for children.

How do you see parents/ schools helping on such an initiative?
Parents and Schools need to be more open to the arts in general and understand that arts are not just creative skills, but an important aspect of human language that will be an asset to their children, whatever line of specialization they may choose later on.

Secondly they should nurture art in their children, encourage them to explore and not be harshly critical of their efforts.

Thirdly, parents and schools should also educate themselves on understanding what art is, and not be quick to judge their children’s works based on their expectations, prejudices or beliefs about good art.

Lastly, they must also be open to spending money on materials, quality teaching, and documentation of their children’s works.

Any words for the ST team and our readers? Any anecdotes you would like to share?

If you think art is mysterious, start playing with it. It is like getting into a rain puddle, letting the rain splash, the mud spatter on your clothes, making paper boats, letting the fragrance of the earth fill you, and basically having a great time feeling and playing with the earth. If you think art is fun, spread it.

Thank you ladies, for your enriching perspective and efforts in the realm of art.

Interview with ArtIndea- Part 1

Last year, this time, we at Saffron Tree ventured into books on Art Appreciation and exploration. India is a wonderful treasure trove of different genres of art and we are pleased to present this passionate duo doing their best to promote Indian art.

This is a two part series- Part 1 will introduce these inspiring ladies, Srivi Kalyan and BindhuMalini, their thoughts on Art and a peek at their work in the publishing arena. Part II will take you into their ArtIndea project, a novel approach to promoting Indian Art.

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You are both so multi talented... tell us about your work- what drives you?
Srivi: As a writer and an illustrator, I enjoy the book as a medium of art. The ability to create ideas, explore them visually and translate them into a journey excites me. I believe picture books are for everyone and I have always enjoyed reading them whether they are designed for children or adults. I explore different media, styles and forms. Each book I work on enriches my learning process and in turn drives me to create more.

I find illustration both a reflective and creative process, where I can enter the worlds of characters and bring their dreams, imaginations and stories to life.

Bindhu: I am a singer, illustrator and graphic Designer. As a singer I enjoy exploration. But the joy about music is that its an ocean and you are forever a student. I am driven by the passion to learn.

The other strong factor in the process of learning is the act of teaching. A good teacher becomes a good learner and vice versa. So with each exploration, lesson and tutoring, there is a lot of discovery of the process of how knowledge is imbibed and its exciting through and through. When I teach, that’s when I can actually reflect on what I have learnt and harness it.

What are your favourite picture books from around the world?
Srivi – Quentin Blake’s books particularly Clown, Books illustrated by Pulak Biswas(Mahagiri), Mickey Patel (Snake Trouble), Suddasatwa Basu (Shangmiyang the tanghkul giant), London Jungle Book By Bhajju Shyam, Waterhole by Graeme Base, Calvin and Hobbes, Martin Pebble by Jean Jacques Sempe, Dotting the eyes on a painted dragon, illustrated by Lu Fusheng,
Poky Little Puppy by illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren, Mr God, This is Anna, Illustrated by Papas, Little Prince by Antoine De St.Exupery, many different Russian illustrators esp Yevgeny Charusin and Nikita Charusin’s My Animal Book… This list is endless.

Bindhu – Quentin Blake of course, like Srivi mentioned. Apart from the names that Srivi has listed, I also like a Lot of Indian Illustrators, there is one Srividya Natarajan who is a great inspiration for me, I also like Atanu Roy and Nancy Raj.

There are so many children who attend art classes nowadays. Is that a healthy trend? Can anyone become an artist with practise? What about individuality? Personal style?
Art classes are largely in the informal sector and there is no specific methodology that is being followed in all of them. Different teachers approach the subject differently. While attending art classes could be really healthy and gives the children a greater command over the media, it would be ideal if the classes are striving to help nurture children’s individual potential rather than moving them towards a factory production of art.

We often find in our workshops that children who have gone to art classes exhibit both positive and negative practices. Many of them are very confident about using media as well as creating forms and hence are able to bring out very good quality work. Some of them are highly imaginative. Combined with their confidence and the ease with art which comes from their regular training, they create really good art.

On the other hand, we also find some students, whose imagination has been suppressed and who are afraid to create on their own. So they continue to have good quality production, but an inability to explore their own ideas or style.

Hence it is essential that art classes bring out the best of both worlds by giving students time to explore their own approaches, while also learning the basic elements of art and creating copy works.

Being an artist is a very natural and innate ability that we all possess as human beings. Akin to language, it is a form of expression. How far we choose to explore is left to our individual choices and situations. However it is definitely possible to be an artist if one chooses. While each person’s style or nature of creativity may vary, it is possible to nurture art in others as well as oneself.

Willingness to learn, passion, discipline, practice and a will to keep trying till we achieve our expected results are all valuable qualities that can ensure one’s growth as an artist. Art is also a personal journey, there can be hundreds of opportunities and avenues present to all of us, the urge to pursue and dapple is mostly from within. Inspirations are all around us to pick up anything that interests us.

What do you feel about the anti-colouring movement?
It is a great idea. However we believe in giving children a range of options and opportunities. While colouring in adult art need not always be colouring within the lines or using traditional colours, it can provide an exciting structure for children to explore their colouring styles as well as understand the contours of different forms.

The freedom that can be created within the coloring exercises would make a lot of difference to children’s uninhibited exploration of their colour sensibilities and unknown styles and forms.

Colouring could be a healthy activity when there are other parallel inputs that will also encourage the imagination of child to explode.

Now with computers and art software and what not, where does it leave traditional methods?
While computer generated artwork is finding a lot of place, traditional methods still inform the core work of the individual artists. Even though a variety of tools like the pen and tablet simulate traditional drawing tools and softwares provide everything from charcoal to oil paints as options, the traditional methods and a person’s practice and knowledge of these methods definitely brings out a better quality/ individuality in his/her works. They also provide a lot of fun hours of exploration for children not just affecting their creative skills, but their motor and cognitive skills as well.

Infact traditional methods need to be encouraged more and more for people to see the extraordinary quality and exclusive nature of work they can create as they explore these methods.

Art is a sensibility and computers, software are part of the modern range of medium that could hold art. Art shapes the medium and medium shapes the art.

Watch out for the second part of this Interview, coming up in a few days.

Living Sunlight

Living Sunlight
How Plants Bring The Earth To Life
by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm

Ages 4-8

The Blue Sky Press

As Molly Bang explains in this article, the book came about as a collaboration between an artist and a scientist to bring an important concept - viz., photosynthesis - to the children via simple language and gorgeous illustrations.

Listen to me. Do this one thing: Lay your hand over your heart, and feel. Feel your heart pump, pump, and pump. Feel how warm you are.

That is my light alive inside of you.

I am your sun, your golden star.

Thus starts this journey about understanding how Plants Bring The Earth To Life.

The sun is the narrator. This appealed to my five-year-old directly. The sun tells us how life on earth would not be possible without plants and their ability to process the sunlight via chlorophyll, make glucose, and release oxygen so we can exist.

The fact that all life on earth is connected and interdependent is brought out beautifully in this book. Not just photosynthesis. And, it sets the stage for understanding chemical, biological and physical processes down the road.

The text is easy enough for the five-year-old to follow, yet scientifically sound. The illustrations are simply magnificent! It is not easy to represent such an abstract chemical reaction or phenomenon as photosynthesis, and Molly Bang has done it.

Notes at the back of the book answers such questions as How Does Life Work?, What happens to water in Photosynthesis?, How do we get energy from the plants we've eaten? and so on, with additional information for older children.

Aside: Clare Norelle's The Same Earth Holds Us All CD is a big hit with both the kids, although the almost-3-year-old probably only understands half the lyrics with the exception of Chickees-and-Duckies. My favorite in this collection is called The Common Pot (La olla común) which seems to have struck a chord in Ana. Anyway, this CD has a very catchy song about Photosynthesis, which in conjunction with the book has proven invaluable to me as a parent and am glad we have these on our shelves at home to reach for at will.


[image source: http://www.mollybang.com/Pages/livingsun.html]